Ukhozi FM Presenter Bingelela Mpanza And Friend Kidnapped By Unknown Gunmen

Ukhozi FM presenter, Bingelela Mpanza, who hosts early morning shows on Sundays between 03:00 AM – 06:00 AM, didn’t make it to work today, 5 February as she was kidnapped on her way to work.

According to reports she was with her male friend whom she asked to drive her to work since it was midnight. Bingelela detailed the incident saying:

“I was in the company of my friend when the incident happened. I’d asked him to
accompany me to work since it was already late at night. We were five minutes away
from work and we stopped at the robot, just behind Moses Mabhida Stadium.

“As we were waiting for the robots to turn green, two armed men approached us. They
fired shots in the air, I guess this was to scare us. They held us at gunpoint and forcefully removed us from our car.

“They handcuffed us before taking us into their car. Then they took us to the bush, and one of them drove our car to an unknown place.”

Going further to narrate her ordeal the presenter said she doesn’t know where they had taken them. “I couldn’t tell where we were because they wouldn’t allow us to look through the windows, we were forced to look down until we reached their destination.

“Upon our arrival, I noticed we were in the bush, I also noticed a small room. We were taken inside this small room and told to cooperate otherwise we’d be killed.

“We were scared because they kept shoving us with their guns. We cried and begged them to take whatever they want but not kill us,” she recalled.

The four criminals went on to access their banking apps and transferred R45 000. “So there were four of them. One of them who appeared to be much older was keeping an eye on us.

“The other three were busy with our cellphones, they transferred R30 000 from my friend’s bank account and R15 000 from my bank account,” she said.

The two were then dumped on Queen Nandi Drive, on the N2 after five hours.

Bingelela stated that she is traumatised and that she is already seeking psychological assistance.

“I’m shaken, I never imagined that people can be so cruel. But I’m glad they didn’t kill us. I have already closed my bank account and I bought a new phone and did a SIM swap,” she said.

Lieutenant-Colonel Nqobile Gwala, a KZN police spokeswoman, confirmed the incident.
“A woman and her friend were allegedly kidnapped by unknown men. KZN
police are investigating a case of hijacking and kidnapping and no arrests have been
made.”